Verdi: Don Carlo

First, this recording was made when the last production was new at the Met. (A new one arrived this last year.) The cast is very good, singing in the style and panache of the era. They don't make it seem easy, however, and particularly in the early acts, some singing is slightly tentative. Zajick is a great Eboli, however, and Sylvester rises to wonderful heights as Carlo. Furlanetto (who sant the telecast this year!) is a very good Philippo. If only his voice were as beautiful as other basses. Millo is at times a great Elisabetta and at times - well, not quite great. Chernov is a great Rodrigo.James Levine conducts a complete performance of the five-act version, with the original overture and opening scene intact. (It is usually cut, not even appearing in most scores.) It's good to have it recorded.My only wish, other than that the singing was a little more polished, was that this had been in French. The French text is much easier to understand and follow. The Italian text is more oblique, and, not being quite so simple, clouds the matter of understanding. Most people deliver the opera in Itlaian, but the French is the original, and a few companies since this recording first appeared, have gone to the French. Very few companies!@The sound is superb.

If you are a die-hard Metropolitan Opera/James Levine fanatic read no further. It is not my intention to foment controversy or ill-feelings. I want everyone to be happy. This Don Carlo from James Levine and the forces of the Metropolitan Opera in New York did not come anywhere near the merits of Solti, Giulini or Abbado in their famous recordings. I was actually looking forward to finally hearing, 23 years after its initial release, a recording of my favorite Verdi opera conducted by Maestro Levine, a fine Verdian, usually. On almost every count this recording disappoints. I was hoping (always fatal) that this Don Carlo was one of Levine's great Verdi sets, like his I vespri Siciliani, La forza del destino, Giovanna d'Arco and Otello. But no. This Don Carlo sounds like a routine day at the Met on a Saturday afternoon at the opera sponsored by Texaco, in the good old days.First off. Sony's sound favors the soloists and chorus to an over-balanced degree with no attempt at an aural stage picture. Some of the singers are so closely miked that they tear at the ears in an unpleasant way. There is no space around the voices. Atmosphere is nowhere to be found in this set. Technically most of the participants are top drawer, but Soul is definitely missing. And Levine glosses over some of the most ethereally beautiful music Verdi ever composed.This is not a BAD Don Carlo, it just doesn't sport anything special or even outstanding in comparison to the great recordings of Solti, Giulini, Abbado (DG studio and the live set on BellaVoce from Milan) or Haitink (Philips). Levine's cast is, potentially, outstanding, but only Ferruccio Furlanetto's Alberich-like King Filippo II impresses with his implacable and tyrannical cruelty.Michael Sylvester sings Carlo with a fine voice, well-trained, no wobbling or shouting or sobbing but he is pretty generic and lacks the flexibility of voice to manage those little turns in his opening aria with any grace. And with Sony's up close mic'ing he comes off sounding hard and shrill at times. I note that when it comes time for Kathleen Battle's 'heavenly voice from above' Sony gives her the all out echo chamber effect, which is disgustingly smarmy and vulgar.Aprile Millo had a difficult voice to assess. She was a vocal conundrum in her hey-day. She often sounds elderly as Elisabetta, the YOUNG French queen-to-be (no pun intended). Most of her performance here is marred by an out of control vibrato that verges on wobble, yet, she can suddenly ascend to her highest range, pianissimo, and deliver the most exquisite singing you can imagine. For me the acid test of a great Elisabetta is not 'Tu che le vanità' the famous aria in Act V but 'Non pianger, mia compagna...' from Act II when she bids a tearful farewell to her long time friend and confidant the Contessa d'Aremberg who has just been banished back to France by the cruel and jealous King. A great Elisabetta will conjure tears with her simple quiet delivery of this beautiful music. Katia Ricciarelli (Abbado) is magnificent here, Tebaldi (Solti) and Caballé (Giulini) are also deeply moving. Freni (Karajan) tries a little too hard, Gorchakova (Haitink) has too heavy a voice to float what needs to be floated and Mattila (Pappano) has a very beautiful voice but is a too much the Ice Queen. For the most exquisite Elisabetta you must buy the live Abbado from Milan in 1978 with Margaret Price (BellaVoce label). It's to die for. Millo for Levine makes almost no impression at all. She sounds like she's thinking about singing perfectly, for her, and as a result there is no depth of feeling in her work. She is a good generic soprano with nothing distinctive about her voice. She sings 'Tu che le vanitá' like she's doing an audition. She is like many of the singers on this set who sound like they were singing on an album of Verdi Aria highlights, with little sense of on-going characterization. This is largely Levine's fault.In the end, Aprile Millo is a make-do from a period of operatic history when there weren't very many Verdi sopranos around. I kept thinking what a pity it was Levine didn't hire Carol Vaness for this role. She was a Met stalwart and singing this role to great acclaim around the time of this recording.Dolora Zajick is a favorite singer of course (we were born on the same day!!). I have two off-air recordings of her as Eboli, this Sony version is the least satisfying. She sounds 'canned' like all the rest of the cast, Furlanetto excepted. Zajick's Veil Song is also oddly phrased but Verdi allows for some license in this regard, it's that she sounds contrived, spontaneity is missing, but that is par for the course in this recording. Vocally she is stentorian and powerful, but one can hear her thinking 'Now I'll wow them with my chest voice...' etc.Vladimir Chernov sounds less than his usual great self. He has a beautiful and extremely lyrical vocal production that sounds a little pushed, slightly, from time to time. His voice, perhaps, did not have that extra ounce of ballast to hoist him with ease through heavier Verdi roles. His Rodrigo is very good but Leo Nucci (Abbado), Piero Cappuccilli (Karajan), Sherrill Milnes (Giulini), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Haitink) or even Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Solti) are great. A tough field.Samuel Ramey would have made another great Filippo II. His Grand Inquistore is magnificently sung but sounds a good 25 years younger than the king. The blind, religious fanatic bastard is supposed to be 90 years old! The great scene between the King and the Inquisitor is consequently way out of balance vocally and Sony's engineering doesn't even begin to approach the thrilling recordings for Giulini (EMI) and Solti (Decca). And Levine misses the stygian darkness of this music completely. Listen to Abbado's Ruggero Raimondi (King) and Nicolai Ghiaurov (Inquisteur) and you willl hear what this scene is all about. Ghiaurov (King) and Talvela (Inquisitor) for Solti is a more volcanic musical interpretation.The minor roles for Levine are very well done, notably Jane Bunnell's fine Mezzo Tebaldo. This role is always more effectively sung by a mezzo rather than a soprano. Paul Plishka over sings as the Monk/King Charles V perhaps to compensate for his older, and slightly wobbly, vocal estate. But he does sound like an old King, which is good. And seeing as he was such a fine Filippo II in an earlier Levine Don Carlo on film this is a fitting tribute to Plishka's long and distinguished career at the Met. I also was impressed by John Horton Murray's royal herald who has to sing what must be a terrifying scene all by himself, a-capella, before the king and his retinue enter the Auto-de-Fé scene. Murray is the finest voiced herald on record.Acts IV and V of Don Carlo are two of the most glorious sequences in all of grand opera. Levine alternately over-eggs the drama and then becomes very slick and glossy in the American style, very impressive technically but not much musically. The cello solo that introduces Filippo IIs great sad scene seems more a showing off audition piece than anything resembling connection between the cellist and the protagonist he is supposed to be speaking for, musically. Listen to Giulini, Solti, Abbado and, especially, Haitink's cellists and you will understand what I am trying to say.I have decided to keep Levine's recording of this wonderful opera mostly on the merits of his including the opening chorus in the Fountainbleau act, beginning with the chorus of peasants and not the usual hunting horns as well as the fine portrayal Filippo II by Ferruccio Furlanetto. Now, if only we could have ONE complete recording, in French, of Don Carlos as Verdi originally wrote it, before all purely audio recordings of opera cease to be made. Abbado's (DGG) is close but he excises scenes from their proper places in the opera and includes them in a very inconvenient, though interesting, appendix on a fourth disc. Abbado's live set (on BellaVoce) from Milan in 1978 also features the peasants' chorus at the start of Act 1.Of the eight Italian versions of Don Carlo in my collection (I include radio broadcast tapes and pirates) I have been listening to Levine's primarily for his energetic leadership, Furlanetto's King and a cast that is still very good if not top notch in this opera, Millo's deficient Queen nothwithstanding. And, recordings of the five-act version including the complete Fountainebleau act are very rare.

I recently acquired this recording and am very happy with its results. I was not much of a fan of MichaelSylvester during the years he sang in New York. My thought has always been that without a virile and vocally superior Don Carlo, why gavitate to a recording of the opera. However, Sylvester delivers one of his best efforts in the piece. He may not be as commanding as others, but he works hard to deliver a very satisfyling performance. I rather like Millo as Elisabetta, and think her "Tu che le vanita" is first rate with some gorgeous piano singing. One could argue the plusses and minuses of Furlanetto, Chernov and Zajick in comparison with earlier recordings. However, as a whole they are wonderful performers and Levine an Met orchestra perform the score with passion, panache and deep sensitivity. Recorded sound is excellent. A strong addition to one's Carlo recordings.

Although not as well known as some other of his operas, such as Aida and La Traviata, Don Carlo is a major Verdi opera. And it is treated as such in this recording. For one thing, the opera is presented essentially complete -- including the first act which is omitted from many recordings and performances. Everything about this recording is done well. The conducting and singing are very good and Millo -- perhaps the greatest dramatic soprano to emerge in decades -- is oustanding, as is Ramey. If you like big dramatic operas and you're not yet familiar with Don Carlo you would be doing yourself a favor to get this recording.

I am not particularly familiar with this opera, so I won't review the artistry. That takes more experience with it than I have.But the sound quality, both in terms of clarity and mixing, are among the best I've heard among any operas. This set really makes you feel like you're right there in the audience.

The Levine/Met performance is well-recorded and strongly cast. It compares very well with the critically-acclaimed versions of Giulini and Solti (which I also own). A terrific bargain at the Amazon asking price.

This version is full length. I have found the intro to be rather unconnected to the body of the work, but I'm okay with it. The performance is excellent.

Ah, to have seen Leontyne Price in this opera. But short of that, this is an absolutely perfect, passionate production with glorious sound. All of the singers are in fine voice and balanced in perfect ensemble.

Verdi's Don Carlo is a problematic piece. Should it be in Italian or French? How much of the original French musical setting should be included? I've known this set for a while and have some reservations about the singing, that of the women in particular, but it's the inclusion of the whole of Verdi's original First Act which makes the set worth acquiring. Most of the cast are the MET house cast, but the orchestra and chorus are well up to standard. Levine conducts strongly and is clearly convinced in the value of the usually cut scenes. It just makes better sense of the whole story. Other sets available from Giulini, with Caballé and Domingo are much better sung, but lack the scene which explains what Carlo & Elisabetta are doing in Fontainebleau. The DG set in awkward French from Abbado is a little on the gauche side, but Abbado deserves points for trying to get as much as he can of the text on disc. It's a shame that the singers are less able to sing well in French. But where are there eloquent French singers to make a lucid attempt at doing the langauge justice? Only Roberto Alagna on the Pappano set, but German and American singers show what the difference is and how hard it is to achieve a resonable standard! Even that EMI set omits the plot setting first scene in Fontainebleau! Though that would make it a much longer opera!Carlo (Michael Alexander), Philip (Ferrucio Furlanetto) are fine, and the rest of the cast do their best, but Millo is ill at ease as Elisabetta, as is the Eboli.There is no libretto supplied with the set ( Verdi - Don Carlo which comes at a reasonable price) but an ENO Opera guide is essential for getting the various versions of the text sorted out. Verdi - Don Carlo

Avec Don Carlo(s), l'on observe un peu le même curieux phénomène discographique qu'avec Aida. Chaque fois qu'un chef entend livrer une nouvelle lecture, l'on convoque un enregistrement de référence signé Georg SOLTI. Avec Don Carlo(s), c'est le couple formé par les versions SOLTI et GIULINI qui fait, plus fréquemment, figure de juge de paix.Cette version de James LEVINE (1993) n'a pas manqué d'être, en son temps, accueillie avec condescendance comparée aux grandes références susmentionnées. Comme nombre de collectionneurs qui achètent compulsivement tout ce qui sort, je l'avais écoutée une ou deux fois pour n'en retenir qu'un ténor moyen et j'avais oublié le reste. Je l'ai rachetée et je la redécouvre avec plus de vingt années d'affinage. Il fallait être sacrément sourd pour oublier la qualité de l'ensemble. Il est vrai que l'on s'ennuie un peu à l'acte de Fontainebleau mais qui irait soutenir que ce premier acte est plus qu'un prologue en dépit d'un grand air de ténor qui ne laisse pas un souvenir impérissable. C'est après que l'affaire se joue... C'est alors que tout ce petit monde, réuni sous la baguette de James LEVINE, s'anime et se passionne. Il était de bon ton de critiquer Vladimir CHERNOV mais, avec le temps, je me rends compte qu'il campe un sacré Rodrigo. De même, son Rigoletto gagne à être réécouté. Quant à Michael SYLVESTER, ce n'est pas Jonas KAUFMANN, mais il tient parfaitement la route dans les grands moments livrant de belles demi-teintes dans le duo du cinquième acte. Le timbre est, somme toute, banal mais le chant est convaincant qui montre un souci de la ligne que l'on aurait pas trouvé auprès de l'un ou l'autre des "trois ténors" de ces années-là. Le reste de la distribution est un All-star cast de l'époque. Aprile MILLO, grand soprano verdien, parachève une distribution de luxe. La prise de son est très belle avec beaucoup de relief dans cette réédition CD datée de 2009.Assurément une très belle version audio... Un grand moment de plaisir sans que j'aille éprouver le désir d'aller réécouter la moindre des deux versions de référence SOLTI ou GIULINI. Ma référence est, maintenant, la version PAPPANO (DVD/BR avec Jonas KAUFMANN et Anja HARTEROS) mais cette version LEVINE en jette qui mériterait d'être mieux connue. Je songe qu'il va me falloir réécouter la version HAITINK (1997) qui, à l'époque, ne m'avait pas impressionné. Elle pourrait, elle aussi, s'être sacrément bonifiée avec le temps.

A ma connaissance c'est l'une sinon la meilleure des versions CD que j'ai entendues. Tout est excellent et bien mis en place. LEVINE dirige avec finesse et chaleur un orchestre dont on admire certains solistes. La prise de sons est tres satisfaisante et les variables intonations des chanteurs ou de l'orchestre sont bien traitées. Au niveau des interprétes ,tous enchantent avec bien sûr en premier APRILE MILLO. Son chant est plein de douceur et tres articulé. Ses partenaires ne sont pas en reste , d'autant que MICHAEL SYLVESTER et VLADIMIR CHERNOV n'ont pas la même aura que FURLANETTO , RAMEY ou ZAJICK qui ont eu depuis 1993 une carrière bien remplie A noter aussi des chœurs trés homogènes et bien dosés. Un enregistrement de grande qualité ; à recommander pour tout amateur de DON CARLO..

Il y a comme ça des versions qui s'imposent et d'autres moins. Certains ne jureront que par Solti. D'autres par Giulini. Je possède bien évidemment ces deux dernières. Les deux sublimes mais imparfaites. Une Tebaldi enregistrée trop tard hélas. De l'autre un Raimondi qui n'est pas la basse verdienne requise pour le rôle. Dans la version Levine, aucune faiblesse dans la distribution. Une Millo inapprochable (sauf bien évidemment par Caballe mais ça, c'était avant). Silvester rayonnant, impliqué. Furlanetto royal. Luxe suprême un Ramey en grand inquisiteur. Leur duo est très très impressionnant. Quant à Zajic... Nom de non, une Eboli de folie. un Levine tout en Technicolor et CinémaScope. Prise de son superlative.

Pratiquement toute la distribution vocale est solide,présente,agréable a ecouter avec un plus pour FURLANETTO, SYLVESTER ,PLISHKA et ZAJICK.Une fois de plus je n'apprecie pas beaucoup APRILE MILLO qui a pourtant été la coqueluche du MET pendant longtemps mais on peut se tromper. Tres bonne direction de J. LEVINE avec un orchestre tres en phase avec les interpretes.